The Magic Nutshell

You know what's scarier than Halloween? Baby jails. Genocide. Domestic terrorism. Targeted political persecution of everyone who is not wealthy, male, white, Christian-identified, English-speaking, cisgender, heterosexual, right-wing, and subservient to the Great Pumpkin. The threat of goddamn nuclear war. Mass voter suppression in the world's most powerful democracy.

I'm writing this post for you, reader of this blog, because you are likely to be someone who cares about artistic expression and human life. (Just a guess here.) Unless you're one of the few trolls who have stumbled upon this blog. But I don't know why you'd be here. I'm not famous. But whatever, I'm not talking to you.

I'm only talking to human people with intact, living souls here, because I am fully convinced that it is pointless to attempt to reason with someone who is so afraid of brown skin, foreign languages, and gender diversity that they would like to torture babies over it. O…

Knowledge is dropping all around us these days, of the sweet and the sour and the poisonous and the rotten. Abusers are named like Rumpelstiltskin. Goose Girls find an iron stove to cry in, and good kings hear them and forge brutal justice. How satisfying it is to see monuments crumble and false idols topple from their pedestals.

Meanwhile, the victims who stand as accusers more often than not go down with their tormentors, martyred on the pikes of public scorn and retaliatory hate.

And then, what comes next for us down here on the ground? What comes down upon the millions of children and women and men scarred by someone who is poor, sick, anonymous, or dead, or also a child and a victim too? What happens to those of us who can't or won't tell? To those who have nothing to gain from disclosure?

What if you can't afford the risk to yourself and your family? Sharing a story publicly can draw blame and shame upon the victim. It can traumatize or re-traumatize people who witn…

Breaking news: This unholy trinity of metalgods has become one in the spirit of rock to help us through these troubled times.


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Till Lindemann and Cardinal Copia of GHOST took part in the recording of the new album Emigrate as famous guest musicians! Emigrate announces the release of its new studio album, 'A Million Degrees', on November 30 via Vertigo / Universal Music. The Nameless Ghouls Official Ghost Cult. #8thAnniversary #TNGofficial #CardinalCopia #Ghost #GhostBC #PapaEmeritus #PapaNihil #Prequelle #GhostBand #TheBandGhost #NamelessGhouls #CardinalCopia A post shared by The Nameless Ghouls (@thenamelessghouls) on Oct 18, 2018 at 6:09pm PDT
I can't even stop screaming long enough to type properly, so this week's regular blog post will be postponed until tomorrow.

Dominus vobiscum.

Et cum spiritu tuo.

It's happened. My daughter has followed in my genetic footprint and developed nearsightedness. We figured there was about a 50/50 chance, considering that no one on Daddy's side and everyone on Mommy's side of the family needs corrective lenses in childhood. I was hoping she'd favor her daddy's side of the family in the eyesight department, but now that she has her first pair of glasses, she is so cute that I can't feel too bad about it.

We aren't sure how long she hasn't been able to see clearly, because she is doing so well in school and has otherwise been able to hide it. She was anxious to admit, at first, that everything beyond arm's length is a blur, because she didn't want to be the first kid in her class to wear glasses.

But when I took her to the optometrist and she realized how well she'd be able to see--and found these hot pink frames from Armani Exchange--she went from feeling shy to enthusiastic about debuting her new look. Yeah…

So here I am listening to BBC Radio 1 and trying to keep calm and carry on while I accept that Rammstein's latest album release goal is spring 2019. I had just set a goal for myself of finishing my draft of Matka Danu Miklagarth by the album release, but at this point, I hope to have Matka written, rewritten, revised, edited, and queried by then. By God, I could have an agent by that time if I'm very lucky. Anyway, what is it that Abraham Lincoln said? "Good things come to those who hustle while they wait." Yeah, I'm pretty sure I saw that on a motivational poster.

Okay, new goals. I want to have my book in the hands of beta readers by Christmas this year and start querying in the winter. And right now, I may just have to console myself and learn to appreciate lengthy suspense--and suspension--at the longest canopy walk in the United States, which opens this weekend. See you there?

OH HOLD THE PRESSES! I just now found out--as I am sitting here typing this--that…